My husband, a recent patient admitted with Hantavirus, was placed in the MICU for ECMO treatment. While there, we had the good fortune to experience the joy that is nurse Heidi Radke! Her care and attentiveness were evident in our first interaction. Her genuine heartfelt concern became most valuable one evening after I had left. As an ECMO patient, my husband was in considerable pain. It would, however, occasionally become unbearably excruciating when a coughing fit would cause the venous ECMO insertion site to feel as if it were about to explode. Because I was not there to comfort him, Heidi took the time to hold his hand, offer a hug, and just be with him as he made his way through the coughing fit and resulting pain. She offered herself as a surrogate family member when I was not available.

It certainly meant a lot to my husband to have a hand to hold and a shoulder to cry on when he was feeling scared, and he would have otherwise been alone. It also meant a lot to me to know that someone recognized him as a person in need of comfort when I wasn’t there to provide it. Heidi is more than just a nurse; she is someone we would like to call a friend, and I know my husband would like this nomination to be a token of his love for her and to recognize her for going above and beyond the call of duty.